7 Comments

1. 

   Charlie on August 13, 2014 at 10:28 am

   Thank you, David. First class! I just subscribed to your newletter. Not shure if this is the right place to ask you a question – if not, please let me know. I work with a Propellerhead Balance interface and Reason DAW. Since the Balance has only two channels and I would like three to make a stereo recording of my acoustic guitar (two mics and the pick up) I hooked on my Peavey 6USB mixer (disregarding the usb) before my Balance interface. Everything works fine, but talking about gain staging (I have gains on my Peavy, gains on my Balance and gains on my Reason) I can’t find anywhere which gain takes priority over the other. Is there any golden key for this? Love to hear from you.
   Charlie

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     David on August 13, 2014 at 12:42 pm

     Hey Charlie, thanks for the question. So the idea is this. Start at the source and work your way back setting every gain input the same way. This is what we call gain staging. It references to everything in your recording chain including your mixer and audio interface. Keep in mind too that we are talking specifically about input gain and not the output fader of a specific track. Most of the time you’ll use your audio interface to adjust the input gain in your daw, not any gain inside your daw.

     I talk about this topic more in the episode of the show as well. It might shed more light on the issue. https://homemusicstudio1.com/how-to-get-the-cleanest-audio-possible/

     Best

     Dave

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       Charlie on August 13, 2014 at 4:47 pm

       Thanks so much for your immediate answer. I have listened carefully to your episode and will try things tomorrow (it’s now too late here in Holland☺).

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         Charlie on August 14, 2014 at 3:22 pm

         Today I made my first recording according to your instructions. The result is very encouraging! The system sound test on my Peavey made me turn down the different input gains to (only) one third, i.e. approximately 10 o’clock. And, indeed, it turned out to be more than enough for recording. The gain knobs on my interface could be cranked up halfway (12 o’clock), but the Propellerhead Balance produces no detectable sysem noise at all, and I needed the gain to record at ± -7 dB. Thank you again!

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           David on August 15, 2014 at 8:40 pm

           Great! Glad to hear your getting results. Thanks for the update.

2. 

   Esteban on July 22, 2014 at 1:11 am

   I enjoyed today’s podcast.

   The last “key” is a great tip. Producing with the “pie” mentality is essential for musicians who compose for songwriters. They must keep in mind that they must leave space for the vocals.

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     David on July 22, 2014 at 7:21 am

     Exacltly Esteban, thanks for the reply.

     Reply